Battle Hardened

Battle Hardened
Game(s)	Darksiders
Requirements	Max out all weapons & unlock all combat moves
Achievement Points	20
Trophy	Silver
Secret	No

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Max out all weapons & unlock all combat moves – Darksiders description.

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Battle Hardened is an Achievement or Trophy featured in Darksiders.

Overview

Battle Hardened is an optional achievement that War can get during his quest. This achievement is probably the most difficult achievement to get in the game, mainly for the purpose that it requires a significant amount of Souls. In order to get this achievement, War will need to purchase every single attack move from Vulgrim. Furthermore, War will need to max out each of his individual weapons, which even after completing the entire story will still take a good bit of time.

20 achievement points are earned on the Xbox 360 version and a Silver Trophy is awarded on the Playstation 3.

Criteria

Outlined above, these are the specific criteria for earning this award.

• 1) Have the Armageddon Blade, Max Level Scythe or Harvester, and Max Level Tremor Gauntlet. A Max Level Chaoseater will not work, nor is the player required to achieve Max Level with the Chaoseater before acquiring the Armageddon Blade.
• 2) Purchased each combat move, and each level if applicable, for the above weapons. This does not include the upgrades for the Crossblade or Mercy, or any Wrath Abilities. Although the latter are required for the Wrath Machine Achievement/Trophy.

Strategy

There are really three aspects to this achievement.

• 1) Grinding up Weapon Levels.
• 2) Acquiring enough souls to purchase the necessary upgrades.
• 3) Actually purchasing all of the upgrades from Vulgrim's Merchant Shop.

Weapon Grinding

The Iron Canopy is by far the best place to gain weapon levels. There are many rooms containing dozens of Spiderlings, and each weapon hit on one of these dozens of small enemies is just as effective at leveling up a weapon as hitting a larger enemy. Creating a "route" of sorts is simple, going from room to room then back again so the spiderlings respawn. As for enhancements, there are two different strategies.

• One can either equip the War's Glory and Combat Lore enhancements, and quickly level up the weapons. The downside of this is that it will yield less souls, making soul farming afterwards a much lengthier task. However, if not as many souls are needed, this is by far the fastest way to level up War's weapons.
• The second method is to equip Death's Blessing and Reaper to the Scythe and Tremor Gauntlet, respectively. While this means it takes longer to level up the weapons, many more souls will be required, which means less soul farming later. This is the recommended strategy if 25,000+ Souls are still needed.
• One can also combine these two, by placing War's Glory on the weapon trying to be leveled up and Death's Blessing on the other. Not as quick or as soul-yielding as one of the other methods, but a good middle ground.

Soul Farming

Inevitably, War is going to need more souls after leveling up his weapons. By far the most effective way to do this is actually by glitching. Even after defeating the Wicked K enemies, seeking out those final Soul Chests and completing the rest of the game, many more souls are going to be needed.

• In the northern part of The Ashlands there is a grouping of drilling towers, the same grouping where War has to turn off the drill to reach the Overlord Artifact. Under one of these towers is water, a well of sorts. If War jumps down into the well, then imediatelly returns to the sands, several Abyssal Riders and an Abyssal Champion will spawn. This can be repeated as many times as desired, but the more enemies on screen, the player risks freezing the game, and most certainly lower framerates. So save before attempting.
• If taking advantage of the code is morally unfavorable, one can also ride around the Ashlands, first the big open area, then down a chasm leading to the Ashworm arena, then back again. This is a good route to take anyway, because it gets distance on Ruin for the Dark Rider Achievement, and there are a number of Phantom Soldiers to kill, yielding more souls and kills towards the Horseman Achievement.

Shopping Spree

What is actually necessary to purchase from Vulgrim is understandably of concern.

• All combat moves for the Chaoseater/Armageddon Blade, the Scythe/The Harvester, and the Tremor Gauntlet purchased to the maximum level is required for the achievement. Everything, to the point that when you exit Vulgrim's shop and re-enter it again, the tabs for these types of moves are no longer accessible, as there is nothing left to purchase.
• If weapons are already at Max Level, the achievement is only triggered after exiting Vulgrim's shop once everything has been purchased.

Video Guides

Weapon Grinding, starts around 13:25

Soul Farming Glitch, starts at 2:00

No glitch soul farming, starts around 5:52

Making the purchases, starts aroudn 10:40